The average radiation does for a person living in the United States is about 6.2 milliSieverts (mSv) per year. About half is from natural background sources, and about half from medical diagnostics and treatments.

This chart from xkcd is a very interesting graphical comparison of radiation doses from many sources. Also, this chart (along with a click of the magnification button) from Information Is Beautiful is, well, beautifully portrayed, although do keep in mind it’s logarithmic so it can fit on one page.

2 thoughts on “What’s Your Radiation Dose?”

Nice chart, but a little too involved for a layperson to grip I believe. Why not a much simple linear chart of health impact equivalence? (what similar health impacts incurred by common substances with a certain level of milliSieverts)